


feel it on the way home

by prettylittlementirosa



Series: good girls tumblr fic [2]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hugs, Tumblr Prompt, stubborn!beth, tired!rio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27484471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettylittlementirosa/pseuds/prettylittlementirosa
Summary: prompt:That episode was hurt. I just want a brio hug 😭
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Series: good girls tumblr fic [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008387
Comments: 8
Kudos: 68





	feel it on the way home

> It’s hot for March. Even with the breeze, Rio can feel a bead of sweat forming on the back of his neck. It’s not the first time he’s sat on top of Elizabeth’s picnic table, elbows rested on his knees, but it is going to be the last. He’s not having fun anymore. Stopped having fun a long time ago, really. And if he’s honest with himself he’s not even angry now, just tired. He can’t kill her, no point pretending it’s even a possibility. The only thing left to do is let her go.
> 
> Briefly he wonders how long it’ll take her to notice he’s out here. He thought about going inside, surprising her, but the thought of being alone with her in that empty house—of being _unwelcome_ in that empty house—it’s a little too much. Outside is better. More room to breathe.
> 
> He hasn’t been sitting there for more than twenty minutes when he hears the door open and shut behind him, followed by Elizabeth’s unsteady steps as she walks over to him.
> 
> “What are you doing here?” she asks. Her voice has that undercurrent of fear it always does with him these days. Too bad it doesn’t stop her from going through with any of the dumb shit she insists on doing. She still hasn’t learned to think things through.
> 
> He keeps his gaze focused on his feet where they’re resting on the bench when he replies.
> 
> “Business is up and running.”
> 
> The take-over of Four Star Pools and Spas went a lot smoother than he expected. Elizabeth’s husband is probably going to run it into the ground the second she gives him any control but that’ll be her problem to deal with.
> 
> He can feel her eyes on him, watching him the way she only does when she thinks he isn’t paying attention to her. She should know by now he’s always paying attention to her.
> 
> “We’ll keep it eighty-twenty till you pay me back, with interest,” he says, not giving her the chance to respond before he continues. “Mick’ll be doing the drops from now on. He’ll deal with any problems.”
> 
> “Where will you be?” Her voice is quiet—not soft, not small—just quiet. He doesn’t want to know what expression she’s wearing.
> 
> Rio rubs his own face with both hands, like maybe the movement will wash away any remaining doubt he feels, like maybe it’ll wash away the affection that’s still coursing through him, even now, in this moment.
> 
> “I’m done,” he tells her. “We’re done.” As soon as he says it he has to get up, can’t sit there any longer, can’t linger in it. He pulls out the envelope from his jacket and doesn’t need to look at her face to know that she immediately recognizes it for the gesture it is. He’s giving her the gun with her prints. He has nothing to hold over her now. He places it on the table, then pulls the silver key out of his pocket—the one to the storage locker that holds her belongings—and places it next to the envelope. There’s a string of pearls in a black leather box in his closet that he probably should’ve brought with him too, but. Well.
> 
> He lets himself look at her, just one last time before he’ll never see her again, and it’s like a punch to the gut. She’s beautiful, always so damn beautiful, with her pale skin and pink lips, her blue eyes blinking back at him.
> 
> “Goodbye, Elizabeth.”
> 
> The words come easier than he expected, even if he can’t say them until he’s already turned away, on his way out. He’s walked through the back gate more times than he can count, enough that it feels like some sort of path should’ve formed, that his footsteps should be carved into the ground by now. But the grass is just as green, just as alive as ever, and every step he takes feels like more work than the last. It takes a lifetime just to reach the gate.
> 
> “ _No_.” It’s incredulous. _Petulant_. Entitled in that way she’s been from day one.
> 
> It’s breathtaking.
> 
> It stops him in his tracks, reignites the fire in his belly, the one she’s been smothering to nothing but too-hot coals for months now.
> 
> It’s the thinnest thread of hope and he clings to it like a lifeline.
> 
> When he turns around, she’s standing there, staring after him, scowl fixed firmly in place. She looks like she’s ready to stomp her foot, like somebody took away her favorite toy and she’s about to throw a tantrum. It’s the best thing he’s seen in months.
> 
> The walk back over to her is fast, gone in the blink of an eye. He stands in front of her, hands clasped behind his back, just to keep himself from touching, and stares down at her. She looks tired, just like him, but her eyes are shining in a way they weren’t before, in a way he hadn’t realized was missing until just now.
> 
> “You can’t just quit,” she chides, and it makes him smile.
> 
> “Thought you wanted me gone,” he retorts, voice low. “That’s what you’ve been doing with your money, right?”
> 
> Elizabeth opens her mouth, shuts it. Blinks. Turns her head.
> 
> Gently, he cups her chin, pulling her face back to his.
> 
> “What do yo want me to do?” His voice is almost a whisper now. He expects her to get frustrated, to lie, to throw her hands up, to tell him to leave, to start a new game— _anything—_ but shuffle closer to lean into his chest, arms hanging limply at her sides. What he should do is move away, put some distance between them. Walk out of her backyard right now, just like he was planning, and never see her again. He should put a stop to this right now.
> 
> He should’ve given her pearls back too.
> 
> The fresh coconut scent of her shampoo fills his nose as he wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer against him. The sun is beating down on them, too hot for this proximity, but she folds her arms into the space between them anyway, and his chest feels full. He doesn’t understand what’s happening, not really, doesn’t know how long they stay like that, but when her fingers grab at his shirt, holding onto him, he thinks maybe he could stay forever.
> 
> It doesn’t last, never does with them. He hears the car pull into the driveway same as she does, hears her gaggle of laughing children scramble out and up to the house, feels her grip on his shirt release, and he takes a step back when she does. Rio expects her to rush inside, to pretend like he was never here, like the part of her that wants this, that wants _him_ doesn’t exist, but she doesn’t. She stands there in front of him, staring back at him, until her husband finds them out there like that.
> 
> “Beth?” His voice is unsure, same as hers was not that long ago. She doesn’t answer him.
> 
> “I’ll see you at the drop,” she says to Rio. It’s a question. It’s a lifeline. It’s an out if he still wants it.
> 
> “Thursday,” he confirms.

**Author's Note:**

> [@hypermania on tumblr](https://hypermania.tumblr.com/post/616679338621992960/that-episode-was-hurt-i-just-want-a-brio-hug)


End file.
